THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 5, 1995 TAG: 9508050461
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
In their first meeting of the summer, a couple of weeks ago, Allen Iverson and Joe Smith combined for 81 points in a Hampton Roads Pro-Am contest, and area basketball fans had a game they would talk about for years.
Or so they thought.
Friday night at Lake Taylor High, Georgetown's Iverson matched the first game's total by himself - dropping in an unheard-of 81 points - to lead A&G Imports over the Hampton Roads Admirals, 176-170, in front of about 700 fans.
Smith scored 61 in a losing effort as A&G, down 25 late in the third quarter, rode Iverson's hot hand and quick feet to a berth in tonight's championship game, set for 7:30 p.m. A&G will face Bill Robinson's Bombers, which beat Central Fidelity, 135-129, in the first game.
``He (Iverson) really showed off,'' Smith said. ``His jumper has improved a lot. He's always been able to drive, because he's so quick.''
The 6-foot-1 Iverson - nicknamed ``Bubbachuck'' - scored on long treys and on soaring slam dunks in the lane. He drove to the basket at will.
``Chuck took over in the fourth quarter - that's what happened,'' said A&G's Tony Rutland, a Wake Forest sophomore and former high school teammate of Iverson's. ``He played his game. He was on today.''
So was Smith, the Golden State Warriors 6-9 lottery prize from Maury High and the University of Maryland. With Smith scoring inside, the Admirals built a third-quarter lead that looked insurmountable, until Iverson took over.
In the first game, the Bombers' Warren Cherry hit a 3-pointer with three minutes left to tie the game at 119, then put the game away with another trey with 1:35 to go, giving the Bombers a 129-124 lead.
``I can hit those,'' Cherry said. ``I used to do it for a living - in the Army.''
Cherry, a 30-something guard from Norfolk, was an All-Army player. He's keeping his exact age a secret.
No matter. As teammate Eric Vaughan said afterward: ``That jumper looked 18.'' by CNB